Hello everyone, welcome again to the last part of the topic that is on presently: Effective Praying. In the last two post, I wrote about Reasons For Prayer for prayer in Effective Praying and Requirements Of Effective Praying. Today I will talking of Biblical Elements And Methods Of Effective Praying. To read the other parts, visit here and here.

Biblical Elements And Methods Of Effective Praying

(1) What is necessary for effective prayer? (a) We must genuinely praise and adore God-not just in words or songs, but in the way we live. Our lives must truly reflect our love for God and bring honor to Him (Psalm 150, Act 2:47; Romans 15:11).
(b) Closely related and equally important to praise is thanksgiving to God. That is constantly expressing gratitude for who He is and all that He has provided (Psalm 100:4; Matthew 11:25-26; Philippians 4:6).
(c) Sincerely confessing (i.e., admitting with the intention of turning away from) ant sin we know of in our lives is vital to faithful prayer (James 5:15-16; Psalm 51; Luke 18:13; 1John 1:9).
(d) God also instructs us not to hesitate to ask for what we need. James reminds us that we often do not receive the things we want because we do not ask, or we ask with wrong motives (James 4:2-3; Psalm 27:7-12; Matthew 7:7; Philippians 4:6).
(e) And we must pray with passion for other (Psalm 122:6-9; Luke 22:31-32; 23:24).

13 Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. 14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, Lord, are with these people and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 16 ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’
17 “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.” - Numbers 14:13-19

(2) How should we Pray? (a) Jesus talks much about the sincerity of our hearts. He does not respond to empty words, no matter how spiritual they might sound (Matthew 6:7)
(b) We can pray silently (1Samuel 1:13), or we can pray aloud (Nehemiah 9:4; Ezekiel 11:13).
(c) We can pray in our own words or use words, phrases and ideas directly from scripture.
(d) We can pray in ways that we understand, or we can pray in the spirit (i.e., in tongues, 1Corinthians 14:14-18). This is a way for God's Spirit to pray through us when we cannot find the right words to truly express what we need. Of course, the Spirit communicates in perfect harmony with God's plan.
(e) We cam even pray through our groaning (not using any human words, Romans 8:26), knowing that the Spirit will perfectly communicates our needs and requests to God.
(f) Another method of truly praying is singing to the Lord (Psalm 92:1-2; Ephesians 5:19-20; Collosians 3:16).
(g) Deep and continuous prayer at times should be joined by fasting. "To fast" means that we choose to put aside food or other physical needs or desires so we can focus more completely on God and His desires (Nehemiah 1:4; Daniel 9:3-4; Luke 2:37; Act 14:23).

There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. - Ezra 8:21

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(3) What posture or physical position, is best for prayer? The Bible speaks of people praying in many different positions, including standing (1Kings 8:22; Nehemiah 9:4-5), sitting (1Chronicles 17:16; Luke 10:13), kneeling (Ezra 9:5; Daniel 6:10, Act 20:36), lying on a bed (psalm 63:6), bowing down to the ground (Exodus 34:8; Psalm 95:6), lying on the ground (2Samuel 12:16; Matthew 26:39) and lifting up hands to heaven (Psalm 28:2; Isaiah 1:15; 1Timothy 2:8). We can pray any time, anywhere, as long as our own posture does not become a distraction to our prayers.

Examples Of Effective Praying

The Bible is filled with examples of powerful , effective prayers. (1) Moses experienced many answers to his prayers for others, though God had already told Moses that He intended to follow a different course of action.
(2) A humbled and sorrowful Samson prayed for one more chance to fulfill his life's task of defeating the Philistines. God responded by giving him supernatural strength. He was able to push down the pillars of the building where they were celebrating their false gods (Judges 16:21-30).
(3) We are shown the answer to four powerful prayers offered by the prophet Elijah. All of them brought great honor to God (1King 17-18).
(4) King Hezekiah became sick and was told by the prophet Isaiah that he would die (2Kings 20:1; Isaiah 38:1). Feeling that his life and work were not complete, Hezekiah prayed from his deepest desires that God would give him more time. So God sent the prophet back to Hezekiah to tell him that he would be healed and given fifteen more years of life (2King 20:2-6; Isaiah 38:2-6).
(5) Daniel surely prayed to God in the lion's den, asking the Lord to keep him safe and set him free. God granted his request (Daniel 6:10; 16:22).
(6) The Christians who were part of the New testament church prayed with passion for Peter's release from prison and God sent an angel to free him (Act 12:3-11)
These examples should inspire our faith in God and help us understand how to pray effectively using the principles outlined in the Bible.

I hope this message of effective praying has already added something important to your life. Thanks to the writers of the New International Version Bible (Study Edition), that I am able to write to you all.

Thanks for reading.
Shalom.

[NIV Study Edition Bible]

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